Ideas and resources for parents of ESL/ELL students
These reviewed resources offer information so share with parents of ESL/ELL students. Some are resources parents can use at home with children to reinforce language skills. Others include suggested activities ESL/ELL learners can begin in school and share with parents. Be sure to read the "In the Classroom" suggestions for ways these reviewed resources can build language skills both at home and at school.
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Vozme - Festival Speech Synthesis System Centre for Speech Technology
Grades
K to 12
8 Favorites
0 Comments
Change text into speech in your email messages, in your browser, website, or Wordpress blog. Download VozMe, it is free and easy. Save as an MP3 file and expand your ...more
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Change text into speech in your email messages, in your browser, website, or Wordpress blog. Download VozMe, it is free and easy. Save as an MP3 file and expand your possibilities. Languages include Spanish, Italian, Catalan, Hindi, and Apache. You can also choose a male or female voice.
tag(s): speech (87), text to speech (17)
In the Classroom
Create a verbal classroom using speech in your email messages, blog, browser searches, and even class discussions, read alouds, and simple explanations. Lower elementary classes, ESL/ELL, or learning support classes can enjoy greater independence with both verbal and written text. Let students try making a blog post with synthesized speech. ELL students can hear written language to build listening skills and relate written English to the spoken sounds. Send an email with an anticipatory activity for a content lesson by polling, asking a question, or offering food for thought. At the end of the unit, have students create a review for content area subjects. Use in your writing class for students to listen to their own work read aloud. This allows for easier self-revisions. Share all written work on your class blog, allowing everyone to share (with parental permission, of course). Enjoy giving students writing prompts or homework assignments spoken aloud, playable as many times as each individual needs. Send a quick email to a sick or absent student, adding a more personal touch with them hearing your message. Use to read poetry or to illustrate inflection and emotion in your speech. Enjoy all the talking and listening you and your class will do!You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
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KIPTOWN - Kindergartners In Progress - Asset-Eight, Arizona PBS
Grades
K to 1
3 Favorites
1 Comments
Kiptown is a site to develop kindergarten readiness skills. The town contains five locations, each with an opportunity to practice different skills. Practice literacy, math, science,...more
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Kiptown is a site to develop kindergarten readiness skills. The town contains five locations, each with an opportunity to practice different skills. Practice literacy, math, science, social/emotional, and other skills. Visit the school, firehouse, restaurant, or grocery store. Hover over a location to find the link, then click to enter. Listen to directions in each area. You get feedback with each attempt and an apple at the completion of each section. Be sure to check out the information for parents and caregivers as well as standards, books to use, and other websites for kindergarten readiness.
tag(s): communities (40), literacy (107), number sense (97), patterns (87), preK (283), sequences (15), social skills (22)
In the Classroom
This site would be wonderful to use in a pre-K or kindergarten classroom with students who need further development of basic skills. Create a link on classroom computers or use on your interactive whiteboard with students who may need intervention help. Use this tool with ESL/ELL students. Provide this link on your class website for students who need extra practice at home.
This resource requires Adobe Flash.
Comments
Kristin, MN, Grades: 0 - 1
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Animal Tribe - Ariadne Green
Grades
K to 6
0 Favorites
0 Comments
Find not only photos but articles all about animal archetypes used in totems. Learn how indigenous tribes all over the world honored their animal relations as friends and guides. This...more
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Find not only photos but articles all about animal archetypes used in totems. Learn how indigenous tribes all over the world honored their animal relations as friends and guides. This site focuses on seeing animals as allies, self-concept, relationship to family and friends, social values, and spiritual development through getting to know animal traits. Find lesson plans for creating your own totems and more!
This site includes advertising.
This site includes advertising.
tag(s): animal homes (64), animals (319), endangered species (40), native americans (80), social skills (22)
In the Classroom
Find lesson plans under the Parents and Teachers link along the top. Find a link to the Totem Pole lesson plan to create a totem pole and understand the significance in your classroom. With Common Core State Standards, there is a push for nonfiction reading and writing. Use this site to focus on nonfiction. Make it a learning station where students look at the photos, reading the captions and articles about the various aspects of animal life. Students could have a special notebook where they summarize or write an opinion about what they learned from "Animal Tribes" that day. Young children could use the information to make a picture book of their own, summarizing what they read (or heard read to them). Include this site during a unit on Native Americans as you learn about their tales and beliefs about animals.Language arts and ESL/ELL teachers could have students write their own description of the pictures and then compare their captions to those on the site. Students could also write a fictional story about what is happening in one of the pictures. The site also mentions endangered animals. Students could research their favorite animal to see if it is endangered or threatened. Why not make it more interactive and have students create an online, interactive poster using a program like Adobe Spark For Education, reviewed here,
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Spreaker - Spreaker Online Radio
Grades
1 to 12
6 Favorites
0 Comments
Create a live Internet radio show -- free -- with Spreaker! This super easy online tool creates podcasts instantly for you to share with your own URL, on Facebook, Google ...more
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Create a live Internet radio show -- free -- with Spreaker! This super easy online tool creates podcasts instantly for you to share with your own URL, on Facebook, Google +, Soundcloud, Twitter, or add to the Spreaker website. Follow others, or invite others to follow your podcasts. With a click of a button you are creating a live podcast. To create a podcast you do not need Flash. However, there are several tutorials, and these tutorials require flash. There is a free version and a more deluxe premium version. This review is for the free version.
This site includes advertising.
This site includes advertising.
In the Classroom
Enjoy a live radio show from your classroom! Publish written pieces of writing, science reports, social studies reports, and any other reports you would like to share. Create a New Book or Book Review podcast for the media center. Link to your podcast URL on your class website. Publish directions to projects, explanations for difficult concepts, or even a radio show of you reading your favorite books for your students. Have upper elementary students take turns reading aloud for a podcast aimed at little reading buddies in kindergarten. Allow students to podcast to "pen pals" in faraway places. Record your school choir, orchestra group, poetry club, or drama club doing their best work or dramatic readings of Shakespeare soliloquies. Take your school newspaper to a new level with recorded radio articles. Be sure to include interviews with students, teachers, principals, parents, authors, artists, and almost anyone. In younger grades, use to save an audio portfolio of reading fluency, expression, or to aid with running records or even include writing. Be sure do this regularly throughout the year to analyze growth. Have fun at Halloween with your Halloween station filled with favorite spooky stories! Welcome your students to a new school year by sending them your message. Create messages for classmates who move away. Bring your foreign language classes an extra resource of your pronunciations whenever they need more practice. ESL/ELL, special education classes can often benefit from the extra explanations, practice, and elaborated instructions given at their own pace. The possibilities are endless! The site itself is a "web 2.0," social networking style site, so some schools may have it blocked. Ask about unblocking just YOUR teacher account so you can have students access it while at school and under your supervision.Edge Features:
Parent permission advised before posting student work created using this tool
Includes Interaction w general public/ public galleries with unmoderated content
Includes social features, such as "friends," comments, ratings by others
Requires registration/log-in (WITH email)
Premium version (not free) includes additional features or storage
Products can be embedded
Products can be shared by URL
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Sozo Exchange - Sozo Exchange
Grades
9 to 12
2 Favorites
0 Comments
Sozo offers daily online broadcasts for learning English. Older teens and adults will enjoy learning English through daily feature videos, pronunciation assists, and interview clips...more
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Sozo offers daily online broadcasts for learning English. Older teens and adults will enjoy learning English through daily feature videos, pronunciation assists, and interview clips which include lesson features and online review exercises. You can contribute to online surveys, learn idioms, and take quizzes with free registration. Subject matter is designed for teens and adults.
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This site includes advertising.
tag(s): figurative language (16), idioms (42), listening (85), news (259), pronunciation (41), vocabulary development (119)
In the Classroom
This is a great find for independent ESL/ELL students who want to improve their oral comprehension and knowledge of vocabulary along with its idiomatic language and slang expressions. Keep the link to this program on your computers at school and on your web page for home use, too. Parents wanting to learn English could use this site too!
This resource requires Adobe Flash.
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noredink - Jeff Scheur
Grades
3 to 12
14 Favorites
1 Comments
Have fun while improving your writing and grammar. At the time of this review, noredink's grammatical categories include apostrophes, subject-verb agreement, comma issues, sentence...more
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Have fun while improving your writing and grammar. At the time of this review, noredink's grammatical categories include apostrophes, subject-verb agreement, comma issues, sentence fragments, run-on sentences commonly confused words, phrases and clauses, and a lot more! The program provides differentiated instruction based on the questions you answer right or wrong. There are tutorials to help you correct mistakes. Sign up with your name, username, email address, gender, school name, and a password.
So, what's fun about learning this type of grammar? noredink asks you to pick your interests from Sports, TV shows, Musicians, and Miscellaneous. You will also be asked if you want them to use your friends from Facebook. When you are practicing or are taking quizzes, the program will use your interests and friends, and generate the questions around your interests and friends. The hope is that the content will be more interesting by including sentences with favorite celebrities, hobbies, TV shows, or even personal friends. Be sure to watch the introductory video which is the only item on the site that requires Flash. The program works on iPads as well as your regular computer. There is a 90 second intro video at the bottom of the landing page.
This site includes advertising.
So, what's fun about learning this type of grammar? noredink asks you to pick your interests from Sports, TV shows, Musicians, and Miscellaneous. You will also be asked if you want them to use your friends from Facebook. When you are practicing or are taking quizzes, the program will use your interests and friends, and generate the questions around your interests and friends. The hope is that the content will be more interesting by including sentences with favorite celebrities, hobbies, TV shows, or even personal friends. Be sure to watch the introductory video which is the only item on the site that requires Flash. The program works on iPads as well as your regular computer. There is a 90 second intro video at the bottom of the landing page.
This site includes advertising.
tag(s): capitalization (18), classroom management (155), differentiation (51), grammar (207), homonyms (10), homophones (16), punctuation (42), quiz (75), quizzes (90), sentences (46), verbs (38)
In the Classroom
Teachers sign up and create a class. You will receive a class code for your students to use (optional). With the class code you will be able to track student's progress, differentiate, assign quizzes and assignments, and see class trends. The program has color-coded "heat maps" to track progress easily. Your assignments and quizzes will be uniquely generated according to each student's interests. Also, students don't have to wait for you to give them an assignment. With their account, they can practice at any time. A student does NOT have to provide an email address to create an account. It will work without it! Since students are providing some personal information about interests, etc., we strongly advise parent permission.Challenge (and excel) your gifted students with the concepts practiced at this site. Since student assignments are at their own level, students can find great acceleration in practicing these necessary skills. ESL/ELL students will especially benefit from the practice using correct English, in their writing, over a continuous time period. Student assignments are at their own level. You can also create your own quizzes. Use this site as part of your rotation during learning stations. Put your class' URL on your website so students can practice at home, too.
Comments
Any website that doesn't let you try it before creating an account is instantly uninteresting to me.Kristi, , Grades: 0 - 12
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Reading Bear - Watch, Know, Learn
Grades
K to 2
9 Favorites
0 Comments
Reading Bear is a systematic program that teaches beginning vocabulary and concepts while introducing phonics patterns. The Getting Started video gives an overview of the program...more
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Reading Bear is a systematic program that teaches beginning vocabulary and concepts while introducing phonics patterns. The Getting Started video gives an overview of the program as it explains the software, videos, and tips for using the system. Choose from any phonics sounds or start from the beginning of the program. Then choose from different video or slideshow tutorials (such as sound it out quickly, let me sound it out, or audio and silent sentences). As sounds are pronounced, the corresponding letter is highlighted. Quizzes are available at the end of each section. Choose from different settings to adjust font, letter color, or order of presentation. At the time of this review, 16 presentations are available. The goal of the site is to create a total of 50 presentations. So check back often. Some of the video clips are hosted on YouTube. If your district blocks YouTube, then they may not be viewable. You could always view the videos at home and bring them to class "on a stick" to share. Use a tool such as Online Video Converter, reviewed here, to download the videos from YouTube.
In the Classroom
This is an excellent resource for use on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Choose from the different options when presenting letter sounds in your classroom to present letters in different formats. Create a link on classroom computers to use as a phonics center activity. Share this site with parents through your classroom website or newsletter as a wonderful way to practice and learn letter sounds at home. Use this site with ESL/ELL students. Speech pathologists and special education teachers may want to bookmark this excellent site, too.
This resource requires Adobe Flash.
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Oxford Owl Reading - Oxford University Press
Grades
K to 6
0 Favorites
0 Comments
Find pre-reading and beginning reading help for the very youngest readers through the pre-teen years. From phonics lessons to online books to story videos read by professional story...more
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Find pre-reading and beginning reading help for the very youngest readers through the pre-teen years. From phonics lessons to online books to story videos read by professional story tellers, this site offers comprehensive reading help and activities for educators and parents. There are plenty of activities that accompany the free e-books. Many other activities encourage reading. On the e-book page are also suggestions for other similar or related books. In addition, a special section addresses the problem of reluctant male readers. Assistance for instructors is also available. Accompanying book lists are arranged by level of reader interest. Although the site has links to books for purchase, there is enough free material to warrant inclusion in your reading helps lists. British English speakers read the e-books, so be prepared for the difference in accents.
This site includes advertising.
This site includes advertising.
tag(s): independent reading (122), preK (283), reading lists (77), reading strategies (57)
In the Classroom
Use this site as an anticipatory set or "activator" to introduce one of the free online books on a projector or interactive whiteboard. Then encourage students to use it individually or in pairs. Refer your ESL/ELL and learning support students to this site for extra, assisted reading practice.
This resource requires Adobe Flash.
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Project Laundry List - Project Laundry List, Inc.
Grades
2 to 12
0 Favorites
0 Comments
Save the planet, one load of laundry at a time with Project Laundry List. This website is dedicated to encouraging people to use clotheslines and other sensible alternatives to wasteful...more
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Save the planet, one load of laundry at a time with Project Laundry List. This website is dedicated to encouraging people to use clotheslines and other sensible alternatives to wasteful energy consumption. Don't miss the Cost Calculator: a spreadsheet that you download to your computer, enter the amount and type of laundry you do, and automatically calculate energy and water costs of clothes care. It even shows your washer's carbon dioxide emissions! The calculator suggests easy ways to reduce costs, which, in turn reduces your impact on the environment. In the Programs Education section, find "The Clothesline Plan." It provides strategies about how to get involved with the clothesline, cold water washing movement. Featured here, among other good laundry history resources, is also "National Hanging Out Day" which is used to educate and create awareness about energy savings through the use of clotheslines.
This site includes advertising.
This site includes advertising.
tag(s): earth day (100), ecology (133), environment (322), holidays (140)
In the Classroom
During environmental science units or Earth Day, use this to have students calculate what their own households spend to care for clothing. Have students consider different tips for reducing environmental impact and saving money. As a homework assignment, have students implement two changes for two weeks. Have parents sign off on a log form to verify student participation. (Parents will love the extra help and possible money savings!) Set up your own celebration of "National Hanging Out Day" by having teams of students prepare presentations (the website even provides one) to share with others students and the community.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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CK-12 - CK-12 Foundation
Grades
5 to 12
3 Favorites
0 Comments
CK-12 offers a large variety of lessons and resources in STEM topics mostly geared for sixth grade and higher. Choose to access the site as a student or teacher to ...more
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CK-12 offers a large variety of lessons and resources in STEM topics mostly geared for sixth grade and higher. Choose to access the site as a student or teacher to begin. Search by specific content or to find standards-aligned flexbook textbooks. Download flexbooks in several formats such as PDF or mobi and epub format for use on Kindle and e-readers. Create an account and add flexbooks to your list. Add your own files and resources. Specific topic searches provide links to information from flexbooks as well as available study aids, activities, and assessments.
tag(s): atoms (55), cells (102), charts and graphs (203), decades (10), energy (212), engineering (133), equations (155), fractions (230), genetics (88), inequalities (25), landforms (48), measurement (181), oceans (165), organisms (20), periodic table (54), probability (136), pythagorean theorem (33), rocks (51), scientific method (68), seasons (36), solar energy (38), solar system (121), statistics (129), STEM (209), test prep (90), variables (20)
In the Classroom
Introduce CK-12 to your students (and parents) on your interactive whiteboard and demonstrate ways to use the site at home. Be sure to create a link to the site on your class website or blog for easy access at any time. Create an account and upload your own resources and activities to create your own flexbooks for use with students. CK-12 is available in many languages. Use this site with your ESL/ELL students as a supplement to classroom resources.
This resource requires Adobe Flash and PDF reader software like Adobe Acrobat.
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Phreetings (photo+greetings) - Picture Sandbox
Grades
K to 12
1 Favorites
0 Comments
This very simple tool creates quick image+message greetings that can be shared via email or by url. Enter a search term to find images or videos, drag your chosen image, ...more
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This very simple tool creates quick image+message greetings that can be shared via email or by url. Enter a search term to find images or videos, drag your chosen image, and type in text below. Click "send" to open your email program to send the link or copy/paste the link to view it directly on the Internet. The url for each custom image and greeting combination shows clearly below the box where you type the message. Highlight it and press Ctrl+ C (or Command +C on a Mac) to copy it. Here is a sample "Phreeting" created in less than 15 seconds. Although not clearly stated on this tool, phreetings searches use Creative Commons images from Flickr. Clicking on the image in the "phreeting" opens the image page on Flickr. As with any search tool, it is possible to search for inappropriate topics, so make sure you have a clear policy about what students may/may not search and what the consequences are. Note: if you do not copy the url as you create, you will NOT be able to find it again!
tag(s): images (269), photography (146), vocabulary (313)
In the Classroom
Hold an image captioning contest on projector/interactive whiteboard at the start of class about verbs by searching "run" or another action word. As a quick formative assessment, have students create a Phreeting using an image of a curriculum concept (a leaf, for example), with a greeting that explains about photosynthesis. During poetry month, have students compose a haiku message to accompany an image they find. Write and share similes and metaphors using image prompts and share the links on a class wiki. Share the links to the many quick projects on your class web page. Mark this quickie tool in your Favorites on your teacher public page so students can use it to send greetings and questions by email any time. Younger students/classes can make "Phreetings" to send to school helpers, visiting firemen, and others. ESL/ELL, speech/language, or world language students can practice writing simple sentences about an image they find and share the result via email or a link you collect on a class web page. If you have a class Flickr account, search for your own photos and have students add captions explaining the activity pictured and send them to the principal or parents. At holiday season, send Phreetings as practice writing informal "letters" or thank you notes.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Learn English Kids - British Council
Grades
K to 8
5 Favorites
0 Comments
This kids' branch of Learn English (created in the UK) contains interactives, short stories, crafts, songs, and even an opportunity for students to help their younger brothers and sisters...more
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This kids' branch of Learn English (created in the UK) contains interactives, short stories, crafts, songs, and even an opportunity for students to help their younger brothers and sisters learn English. A free log-in allows you access to printed versions of the stories (with questions), the ability to make comments, enter competitions, answer polls, and even create a "character." Another log in for teachers and parents opens up suggestions for teaching and using the resources of the site. Professionals can also find video tips and access to helpful articles. Access to the site is available in other languages such as Chinese and French, all aimed at teaching English. A text help feature using "BrowseAloud" opens up the English learning to students with vision or reading challenges. Note that vocabulary used is British, so you may need to explain a few words to US or Canadian students, e.g. "rubbish bin."
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This site includes advertising.
tag(s): interactive stories (32), preK (283), songs (53), vocabulary development (119)
In the Classroom
Primary grade and preK teachers will find many useful interactives for basic skills like colors and phonics on this site, even though it is intended for learning English. Share the activities as a center or for extra practice for struggling students. Check with your administration about whether students can register individually for the site. Introduce this site to your class on an interactive whiteboard or projector. Make a shortcut to this site on classroom computers and have your ELL/ESL students use it as one of your learning stations. Short stories and other interactive features of the site would work well with special education students, too. Be sure to share this link with parents of your ELL students if they have Internet access at home.
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CurriConnects Book List: Books for Tough Situations - TeachersFirst
Grades
K to 12
0 Favorites
0 Comments
Use this CurriConnects list to find independent reading books to help students facing difficult circumstances such as divorce, loss, bullying, deployed parents, friendship issues, eating...more
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Use this CurriConnects list to find independent reading books to help students facing difficult circumstances such as divorce, loss, bullying, deployed parents, friendship issues, eating disorders, and more. CurriConnects thematic book lists include ISBN numbers for ordering or searching, interest grade levels, ESL levels and Lexiles'® to match with student independent reading levels to challenge, not frustrate. Don't miss other CurriConnects themes being added regularly.
tag(s): divorce (6), eating disorders (7), emotions (38), social skills (22)
In the Classroom
Build student literacy skills and help students facing personal challenges. Reading about personally meaningful topics will help students work through them. It will also build the important reading strategy of connecting what they read to what they already know. Keep this list handy in your Favorites to suggest options when a student seems to need them. Since the list includes topics for all levels of maturity, you might want to share portions of it rather than the entire list. You may also want to tell parents about it during parent conferences or when situations arise. As always, allow students to self- select independent reading books from a list of options. Don't forget to share the list with the school and local libraries so they can bring in some of the books on interlibrary loan, if needed. Your school counselor will also appreciate this list. CurriConnects are a great help for teachers and parents who have lost school library/media specialists due to budget cuts.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Sound Cloud - SoundCloud Ltd.
Grades
K to 12
3 Favorites
0 Comments
SoundCloud is a sound sharing site. Upload your favorite sounds and share using your sound cloud free account. Share via a link or a choice of embed widgets to add ...more
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SoundCloud is a sound sharing site. Upload your favorite sounds and share using your sound cloud free account. Share via a link or a choice of embed widgets to add into a website, blog, podcast, Wordpress, email, instant message, or social network. You can choose to use previously recorded sounds or record your own sounds using this site. Share the sounds on the web, with your group, or privately between users. Use your drop box to receive recorded material from others.
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This site includes advertising.
tag(s): creative writing (162), descriptive writing (40), expository writing (37), sound (104), sounds (67)
In the Classroom
Add the dimension of sound into your language arts classes with SoundCloud! Turn written stories or poetry into works of spoken art. Use SoundCloud recordings of places such as; the city, the forest, the beach, or a cafeteria to bring settings to life. Make and share audio writing prompts. Challenge students to create their own story using sounds. Add sound into projects such as webquests, PowerPoints, podcasts, or blogging to hear the results! Emphasize important messages to your parent or student emails using sound. What a practical solution for ESL/ELL learners. Record and share poetry readings during Poetry Month. Save quarterly recordings of speech articulation students s they can hear their own progress (and you can share it with parents). Check school policies, of course, before uploading any student recordings to the web. Instrumental music teachers can share clips of musical pieces for students to emulate during at-home practice.Edge Features:
Includes an education-only area for teachers and students
Parent permission advised before posting student work created using this tool
Includes Interaction w general public/ public galleries with unmoderated content
Includes social features, such as "friends," comments, ratings by others
Requires registration/log-in (WITH email)
Premium version (not free) includes additional features or storage
Products can be embedded
Products can be shared by URL
Multiple users can collaborate on the same project
Requires download/installation of software
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Literacy Connections - Educators Circle, LLC.
Grades
K to 6
9 Favorites
0 Comments
Literacy Connections provides information on reading: teaching and tutoring techniques for all ages (young child, adult literacy) and ESL/ELL students. Find resources that are useful...more
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Literacy Connections provides information on reading: teaching and tutoring techniques for all ages (young child, adult literacy) and ESL/ELL students. Find resources that are useful for teachers, volunteers, and tutors. Topics include; read aloud, fingerplays, readers theater, songs, spelling, high frequency words, writing instruction, the language experience approach, phonics, word study, word families, the best in children's literature and more. Broaden your knowledge for ESL/ELL, literacy programs, and parent information. The (many) articles are well written and cover a broad variety of topics such as learning the letters of the alphabet, encouraging your student (or child) to be a reader, reading aloud, and many others.
This site includes advertising.
This site includes advertising.
tag(s): alphabet (84), literature (266), phonics (68), preK (283), readers theater (13), reading comprehension (133), sight words (36), spelling (165), word study (76)
In the Classroom
Make your reading and writing workshop come alive with a wealth of resources and information at your fingertips. Help your school volunteer program or business partnership with background training to work effectively with your students. Share this one on your website as a link for parents. Periodically revisit to be sure your language arts program has the most useful and meaningful components. Gifted and ESL/ELL programs will greatly benefit from additional ideas and fun activities for whole group instruction, centers, or even homework practice.
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Natural Reader - Natural Soft Limited
Grades
1 to 12
2 Favorites
0 Comments
Bring additional help to your classroom with Natural Reader, a downloadable program. You can test it on this web page by pasting text into the text box. Natural Reader takes ...more
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Bring additional help to your classroom with Natural Reader, a downloadable program. You can test it on this web page by pasting text into the text box. Natural Reader takes written text from MS Word, emails, Internet Explorer, scanned books, or even images from a camera phone and turns it into spoken text. Just highlight the section you want read aloud, and your choice of voice will read it aloud. The voice choice and speed are adjustable. Turning written text into MP3 or WAV files is another option. Typing/pasting in the text box allows any text to be read aloud. A floating tool bar allows the downloadable software to be available all the time at on easy click. A free trial version is available for both Mac and Windows, with more deluxe versions available. Educational discounts and volume discounts do apply. This is the teacher's aid that needs to be in all classrooms. You must be able to install software to put this Reader on your computer.
This site includes advertising.
This site includes advertising.
tag(s): learning disability (18), learning styles (20), text to speech (17), writers workshop (36)
In the Classroom
Bring Natural Reader into your language arts classroom to help all students edit written work. Bring an extra helper into your class to pronounce difficult words. This program allows students with decoding difficulties to focus on comprehension on all texts. Natural Reader offers repeated readings to improve fluency, comprehension, and confidence. Add an extra learning dimension to any textbook or written notes. Honor the auditory learners with their natural style. Learning support, ESL/ELL, dyslexic, or ADHD learners have shown marked improvement. Writing classes can benefit by having individuals, copy and paste into the text box to help edit and proofread. Add extra reinforcement with directions by recording and being available for playing multiple times. Be sure to include this link on your class website for students (and parents) to access at home.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Bookseer - Apt Labs
Grades
K to 12
2 Favorites
0 Comments
Students can input the name of a book they have just finished in order to find a list of similar books they might enjoy. Either Amazon or LibraryThing makes the ...more
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Students can input the name of a book they have just finished in order to find a list of similar books they might enjoy. Either Amazon or LibraryThing makes the suggestions. Clicking on the book links to Amazon for purchase.
This site includes advertising.
This site includes advertising.
tag(s): book lists (128), independent reading (122), literature (266), reading lists (77)
In the Classroom
Put this site on your classroom computers for students to use to guide their choice of outside reading materials. The site may be helpful for ELL/ESL students who are less familiar with book offerings in English. Parents may be interested in using this site to find literature for their students, so be sure to list this link on your class website.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Math 3 Under the Sea! - LearnAlberta.ca
Grades
1 to 3
5 Favorites
0 Comments
This interactive and colorful math activity lets students practice math skills in several different areas. All activities take place in an under the sea environment with included help...more
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This interactive and colorful math activity lets students practice math skills in several different areas. All activities take place in an under the sea environment with included help and vocabulary support. Please note that this site is from Canada, so the money activity uses Canadian currency.
tag(s): differentiation (51), numbers (192), operations (119), vocabulary (313)
In the Classroom
Introduce this site on your interactive whiteboard or projector with the sound turned up. Play the introduction to orient your students. Have students try out this site on individual computers, or as a learning center (maybe on the IWB). For students that are having trouble with math vocabulary, use the provided glossary for explanations of common math terms. Parent/teacher information is available for each of the lessons. Most of the activities have different levels so activities can be differentiated for students.
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Making Books with Children - S. K. Gaylord
Grades
K to 10
4 Favorites
0 Comments
This site offers free book making activities -- the old fashioned way with paper and art supplies. Of particular interest is the project titled Making Books around the World...more
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This site offers free book making activities -- the old fashioned way with paper and art supplies. Of particular interest is the project titled Making Books around the World in which students can make slat books, palm leaf books, accordion books, "papyrus" scrolls, and cloth books of many types. Tips for teachers make the book making projects accessible. Book plans are also available in Spanish.
tag(s): artists (80), book reports (34), creative writing (162)
In the Classroom
Take advantage of the free lesson plan to do final projects on research of a variety of topics. This is a great find for gifted students or ESL/ELL students since it is so varied and flexible. Challenge students to make books as an end of unit project in science, social studies, and math. Have a bookmaking contest in your classroom. Have students make creative books rather than a traditional book report. Share this site together with art teachers. Share this site with parents to use to create books at home.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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ESL Bits - Skip Reske
Grades
5 to 12
3 Favorites
1 Comments
Don't let the title mislead you! Find listening and reading activities for any listener who enjoys audio stories at a teen and adult level, including the advanced English language learner....more
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Don't let the title mislead you! Find listening and reading activities for any listener who enjoys audio stories at a teen and adult level, including the advanced English language learner. There are short stories, books, radio scripts, and songs to listen to and read, as well as English idioms, sayings, and slang. You'll also find a Reading Comprehension and Test Preparation area with interactive activities to help students read and understand English and prepare for reading exams. Unlike many audio book sites, this one includes recent and popular selections for almost anyone, including teachers and parents! Don't miss classic radio shows perfect for discovering life in 20th century decades past.
tag(s): listening (85), radio (27), reading comprehension (133), short stories (24), test prep (90)
In the Classroom
Project a story or song on an interactive whiteboard or projector for group listening, reading along, and discussion. Literature teachers can use the site for a class novel, so lower readers can have audio support at home for listening and review. You could have small groups of students listen to different short stories, and make up Bloom's type questions for the next group of students to answer, or they could turn the story into a Reader's Theater piece and video tape it, or perform it live for the class. Share the videos using a tool such as SchoolTube reviewed here. This is a terrific site to list on your class website for students to use for at-home practice or enjoyment. For elementary and middle school students, you will want to provide the specific url for the selection you want them to use so they are reading articles appropriate in content for their age group. If you supervise a study hall, keep this link handy as a listening option for students who "don't have any homework."Comments
Excellent resource!alma grimaldi, , Grades: 7 - 9
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